1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to undergarments, and more particularly to an undergarment for securement to the strap of a brassiere for shaping the upper arm of a woman to provide a more slender appearance therefor.
2. Description of Related Art
Many women have somewhat heavy and/or flabby upper arms, which they consider unsightly. Accordingly, such women frequently wear outer garments to conceal their upper arms. While this may be suitable for some situations, if the outer garment's sleeves are somewhat tight fitting, concealment may not be as effective as if the sleeve of the outer garment was loose-fitting.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,338 (Starling) there is disclosed a ladies' garment arranged for smoothing the wrinkles and flabbiness in the skin and muscles of the forearm and upper arm to improve appearance, primarily when wearing sleeveless dresses and blouses. The garment is made of a two-way resilient stretchable sheer fabric, and consists of a waist encircling portion connected to a pair of spaced extending arm portions. The arm portions can extend to the wrist and hidden from view by wearing of a bracelet or the like. The wrist portion can be provided with separable segments for adjusting the length. The other end of the arm portions extend to the shoulders for applying a tension to maintain the arm portions in position. The garment is designed as to not be visible from the front or rear of the wearer.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,027 (Kintanar) there is disclosed a pair of cosmetic gloves formed from sheer and elastomeric yarn, which when worn smooth and firm wrinkled skin which is exposed to view. The gloves have hand and arm-receiving portions which can be connected. Overlapping straps are also provided on the back of the arm-receiving portions which are adjustably connected to vary the tension applied by the gloves to the skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,611 (Thompson) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,339 (Thompson) there are disclosed a women's sleeved under/outer garments for fitting snugly over conventional brassieres (or other undergarments) and for concealing or covering a wearer's arms without adding undue bulkiness about the torso of the wearer. The sleeved under/outer garments may be used to conceal any flabbiness, wrinkles, or age spots that may exist on the arm of the wearer without adding undue bulkiness about the torso of the wearer.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,993 (Erwin) there is disclosed a lady's undergarment which has a front neck hole seam that is generally W-shaped and has a raised middle section which falls in between the user's breasts. The undergarment has a lower opening that is defined by a generally straight back hem and a bevel front hem which has a lowermost portion that is cut at an angle. The undergarment may include one strap or two straps or be strapless. A collar may be attached to the undergarment. The back hem of the lower opening of the undergarment may be sufficiently long to be passed between the legs of the user and extended upwards to be attached to the undergarment. The undergarment may include cushioning means at several different sections of the undergarment. Undergarments that are designed for women who are missing one or both breasts may have cushioning to line area where breast is missing. The undergarment may include a flap between the folds of the breasts. A basically triangular patch may be attached to the vicinity of and is designed to closely silhouette the front neck hole seam. Finally, the undergarment may be combined with and attached to a brassiere to be worn by the user as one unit. The undergarment may be attached to and may include a girdle. The girdle may be combined with and attached to the undergarment as a padding or as an extension of the undergarment. If attached to the undergarment as an extension, the girdle may form legs for the undergarment or may form openings for passage of legs of user into and out of the undergarment.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,953 (Delao) there is disclosed a protective sleeve for protectively covering an appendage and medicinal sites such as intravenous equipment, bandages, wounds, etc. The sleeve is open at both ends with adjustable elastic sections which effectively seal the sleeve against the appendage. The elastic sections are equipped with elastic drawstrings which circumscribe a cushioning resilient layer. When the drawstrings are drawn and tied together the elastic force of the drawstring applies a sealing force to the resilient layer causing the layer to conform to the appendage configuration and seal the elastic section against the appendage. The drawstrings may be untied to release the contractive force so as to permit the sleeve to be removed from the appendage.
In U.S. Design Letters Pat. No. D449,422 (Massie) there is disclosed a design for a pair of sleeves with integral mittens at the end of each sleeve. The two sleeves with their integral mittens are arranged to be secured together by fastening strips.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,239 (Magliocchetti) there is disclosed a band for connecting a bra strap to a sleeve of a garment. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,276 (Ascuitto et al.) there is disclosed a device for securing a pad to the strap of a bra.
While the devices of the foregoing patents appear generally suitable for their intended purposes, they never the less leave much to be desired from the standpoints of aesthetic appearance (e.g., concealability), simplicity of construction, low cost and wearing comfort.
The subject invention is designed to address those needs by providing an undergarment which is arranged to be readily placed on the woman's upper arm and releasably connected to her bra to the upper arm and thereby resulting in a slimmer, smoother, tighter, more firm-looking appearance.